Safety vertical break switch



Feb. 10. 1925. 1,525,530

E. E. ANDERSON SAFETY VERTICAL BREAK SWITCH .Filed May 20, 1922 msuLm-mn W 55555 4 :tl:l

j 13 2 65 Kinda/6023' m W Patented Feb. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST E. ANDERSON, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY VERTICAL BREAK SWITCH.

Application filed May 20, 1922. Serial No. 562,449.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented specification.

This invention relates to safety vertical break switches for high tension lines wherein the operating lever is located at adistance from theswitch proper.

It is an important: object of this inventionto provide a switch wherein the blade moves in the general direction of the arc, which'tends to rise; and at the same time to provide an increasing resistance in the path. of the are so that the arc is effectively broken without causing serious line surges.

It is a very important object of this invention to rovide a toggle operated switch that provi 'es a lock in the closed position when the toggles are in line and exerts a maximum leverage when starting to pull the contacts off the knife, and decreases this leverage as the switch blade moves free,

causing a smooth acceleration of the movement of the blade from the closed position to the open osition.

It is an oject of this invention to provide for the operation of a. plurality of switches from a single operating lever when desired.

It is an object of this invention to provide a counterbalanced switch blade in which the counterbalance increases in leverage as the blade rises so that as it approaches a vertical position the blade is overbalanced to such an extent that there is no possibility of its falling if the linkage should break.

Itis a further objectof this invention to provide a switch suited for either vertical or horizontal mounting.

It is an object of this invention to open the blade element more than 90 so that with a horizontal switch the blade will be in stable equilibrium in open position, preventing its falling because of its own weight.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparent from the dis- E. ANDERSON,

closures in'the specification and the accompanying drawings.

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings and hereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation of my invention. 7

Figure 2 is a top plan view thereof."

Figure 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged section on the line 44 ofFi g. 1.

the dew ice of Figure 5 is a front elevation of the operating lever with parts broken away.

Figure 6 is a side elevation of the operating lever with parts broken away.

As shown on the drawings:

The numeral 1 refers to a supporting base for the switch thatdoes not necessarily have to have good insulating qualities. Mounted on this base near each end are the standards 2 for the insulators 3. Near the center of .he base 1 is a mounted bearing box 4, in which an operating shaft 5 is rotatably mounted. [Secured to the shaft 5 is a support 6 for another insulator 3. Also se-' cured to the shaft is an operating crank 7 t which an operating rod 8 is attached which bracket 32 and the operating rod 8 is pivoted on the lever in such a way that with the switch in closed position (the lever 31 at the positionshown in Fig. 6) the downward force of the rod falls inside the lever pivot so that this arrangement gives a lock for the closed position in adition to the lock given by the straight line toggle. It will be evident that the shaft 5'can be extended to operate a plurality of switches in unison. Mounted on one of the end insulators 3 is a bracket 9 with apertured bosses 10 for a pivot pin 11 on which the switch blade 12 is pivoted. The bracket 9 is-alsoapertured at 13 for another pivot pin 14 on which one of the toggle member 15 swings. The switch blade 12 is formed in channel section for strength and to the left of the pivot pin 11 is bent upwardly at an angle to the blade proper to form a short lever arm 16 and pivot 17 for the second toggle member 18. Thelengths of the toggle members and of the lever arm 16 are such that with the switch closed the toggles are substan- 'tially in line and the second toggle member 18 rests agamst the pivot pin 11 to prevent further movement thereof to the right. The pivoted joint 19 of the two toggle members has a connection 20 to a member 21, fastened to the top of the insulatormounted on the shaft 5, whereby rocking this shaft causes the operation of the toggle and hence the switch blade. The switch blade 12 is counterbalanced by means of extensions 29 secured to the sides of the lever arm 16 which carry a counterbalance weight 30.

The switch contact consists of a knife member 22 adjustably mounted in a socket 23 fastened to an insulator 3. This knife member carries an arcing horn 24 and a terminal 25 for the line wire. The switch blade is provided withcontact springs 26 within the channel section adapted to engage on the sides of knife members 22 to make firm and even contact therewith. EX- tension members 27 are secured to the end of the knife blade and formed to contact the arcing horn to prevent arcing at the maincontact surfaces as the-connection is broken. I

To avoid carrying current through the pivot pin 11, a flexible conductor 28 1s fastened to the switch blade and to the other line terminal 29.

The operation is as follows:

With the switch in closed position, as shown'in full lines in Fig. 1, a downward pull on the operating rod 8 will rock the shaft 5 and the insulated member 3 to the left, forcing the toggle to close up by means of the connection 20.. The first slight move ment of the toggle develops strong leverage to slowly break the switch contact, after which as the -toggle approaches an acute angle the force is decreased and the speed of movement increased accordingly, when v the only work required is to lift the switch blade itself. The linkage is proportioned to bring the blade past the vertical position so that itwill be safe against accidentally falling into contact position. Moreover, the counterbalance and the weight of the operating rod and lever will serve as additional safeguards against accidental closure. The weight of the member 21, insulator 3 and support 6 falls to either side of the shaft 5 in the closed and open positions and so tends to maintain its position in either case. It will thus be apparent thatI have provided a series of supplementary checks against accidental operation of the switch in either position.

As-the blade leaves the knife member the extensions on' the blade remain in 'contact with the arcing horn, thus eliminatingany possibility of burning the contacts as the circuit \is not completely broken until the contacts are some distance apart. The arcinghorn is renewable so that what arcing does occur on the horn only damages an inexpensive part.

The voltage capacity of this switch is only limited by the type of insulator employed and this switch has the further advantage that all the insulators are completely interchangeable.

An adjustment is provided for the knife membenwhereby its height may? be regulated to give firm contact with the switch blade when the operating mechanism is in its extreme closed position.

I am aware that numerous details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention,-and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent granted otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

1. A switch comprising a pivoted counterbalanced switch blade, a knife member to contact therewith, an arcing horn on said knife member, a toggle mechanism constructed to form a limiting stop for moving said switch blade, and a distance control for operating said toggle mechanism.

2. A high tension switch comprising a bracket, an insulated support therefor, a

counterbalanced switch blade pivoted onsaid bracket, a. knife member to contact therewith, an insulated support therefor, an

arcing horn on said knife member, a toggle switch blade pivoted on said bracket, a knife member to contact therewith, an insulated support therefor, an arcing horn on said knife member, a toggle mechanism pivoted in said bracket and forming substantially a straight line when the switch blade is closed, said mechanism being so arranged as to form a limiting stop in this position, a base for said insulated supports, a shaft-supported thereon, means on said shaft for operating said toggle mechanism, and a distance control for-said shaft. I

4. A high tension switch comprising a bracket, an insulated support therefor, a switch blade pivoted on said bracket, a knife member to contact therewith, an insulated support therefor, an arcing horn on said knife member, a toggle mechanism pivoted in said bracket and forming substantially a straight line beyond which! it cannot move when the switch blade is closed, a base for the insulated supports, a rotatable shaft supported on said base, an insulated member secured to said shaft, a connection from Said. member to the toggle mechanism, and means for turning said shaft to move the toggle mechanism.

5. A switch comprising complementary terminal members, conducting means pivoted on'one' terminal member and adapted to contact its complemental terminal member, and a toggle mechanism in the plane of the conducting means for movingsaid conducting means .'nto an inoperative position wherein it makes an obtuse angle with its operative or connecting position.

6. A switch comprising a base, two terminal members thereon, a connecting member pivoted on oneterminal member and adapted to frictionally engage the other terminal member, and operating means for the connecting member including a self-locking toggle mechanism adapted to force the same into engagement with the last mentioned terminal member.

7. In a switchof the class described, a pivoted switch blade and a counterbalance for the same, adapted to increasingly overbalance the blade as it is moved from the closed position, and a togglemechanism for operating the blade comprising toggle members forming asubstantially straight connection with an inherent stop when the switch is closed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two 1 subscribing witnesses.

ERNEST E. ANDERSON;

Witnesses:

FRED E. PAEsLER, JAMES M. OBRIEN. 

